The Palmetto Education Summit 2026

Students today have unprecedented access to technology, convenience, and instant answers—yet many struggle with resilience when faced with challenge. How can educators cultivate perseverance, problem-solving, and a growth mindset in this environment? In this engaging session, participants will explore how modern technology is shaping student resilience and learn practical strategies to develop grit in both faculty and students. Attendees will walk away with clear principles and actionable tools they can implement immediately to help students embrace challenges, delay gratification, and build the perseverance needed for long-term success. Participants will: understand how smart technology influences students’ resilience and resourcefulness, learn practical strategies to cultivate grit and delay gratification in young people, gain actionable tools to strengthen perseverance in staff, faculty, and students, and leave with a clear game plan for building a culture of resilience on campus.

Many educators unknowingly limit student growth through well-intentioned overprotection and over-involvement in classroom and school activities. This highly interactive session reveals the science behind how independence builds resilience and explores why stepping back—not hovering, managing, or constantly helping—is the most powerful teaching strategy available. Participants will examine the difference between appropriate support and enablement, discover age-appropriate independence opportunities across different grade levels and subject areas, and learn practical strategies for creating classroom and school environments where students can practice self-reliance. Through real-world examples, small group activities, and practical frameworks, educators will leave with concrete strategies to empower young people to solve their own problems, learn from natural consequences, and develop the deep confidence that comes from capability. This session is both inspiring and grounded in actionable takeaways.

Creating a positive school culture requires more than programs—it requires intentional leadership and a shared commitment to character, resilience, and community. Facilitated by Dr. Jamie Spinks, Managing Coach at Franklin Covey Education and former Lighthouse School Principal and successful school principal, hear from Leader in Me leaders, as they discuss how they are building cultures that CARE through student leadership, stakeholder engagement, and meaningful systems that support both academic and personal growth.

Young people are surrounded by adults every day—teachers, coaches, administrators, bus drivers, parents, and community members—yet many students still struggle to find the consistent encouragement and guidance they need to thrive. Schools often think of mentoring as a formal role assigned to a small number of people, but the reality is that mentoring happens in everyday interactions. The challenge is not a lack of caring adults—it is the absence of a shared framework and practical tools that help people recognize and use their influence intentionally. This session explores the idea that everyone in a school community has the potential to be a mentor. Participants will examine how everyday interactions can become meaningful mentoring moments that help students develop confidence, resilience, and direction. The session also highlights the importance of structured mentoring frameworks and tools that help schools and communities move from good intentions to consistent, meaningful support for young people. Participants will be introduced to mentoring strategies drawn from youth development research and practical mentoring models such as the GOODLIFE mentoring framework, which provides tools and structured conversations that help mentors guide students toward stronger decision-making, relationships, and future direction. The session will also highlight how schools can expand their impact by engaging families and community partners in mentoring efforts. This workshop is being proposed as a collaborative session with Real Champions, Inc., a South Carolina organization dedicated to empowering young people through mentorship and leadership development. Together, the presenters will explore how schools and community partners can work side-by-side to create stronger mentoring networks around students. Participants leave with a clearer understanding of the power of mentoring, practical tools they can use immediately, and ideas for building mentoring partnerships that strengthen support for students both inside and outside the classroom. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the role every adult can play as a mentor, practical strategies for building meaningful mentoring relationships with students, exposure to structured mentoring tools and frameworks that help guide conversations and student growth, ideas for engaging community organizations and volunteers in mentoring, and examples of how schools and community partners can work together to create mentoring networks that support students.

Something fundamental shifted in parenting culture over the past decades. What was once considered normal childhood—walking to a friend’s house, playing unsupervised, handling age-appropriate responsibilities—became labeled as “neglect.” Meanwhile, anxiety and depression in young people skyrocketed. This session explores the cultural transformation from trust-based to fear-based parenting, unpacking how media narratives, legal ambiguity, and parental anxiety created this shift—and what the research actually tells us about child safety and development. Discover the real data on childhood danger, examine the disconnect between perceived and actual risk, and explore how we collectively decided that constant adult supervision was not only necessary but good parenting. Perfect for educators, administrators, and school counselors seeking to understand and teach that giving kids room to grow isn’t risky—it’s essential.

Every day we make choices that shape not only our own paths but also the options available to those around us—yet in our schools and homes, we've created environments where children rarely experience authentic choice, leading to unprecedented levels of anxiety, apathy, and failure to launch. In this interactive session, Let Grow's Executive Director will explore the critical difference between authentic choices (which build competence and internal locus of control) and manufactured choices (which can erode trust and fail to develop decision-making capacity). Participants will learn to recognize opportunities for shifting from micromanagement to authentic autonomy, discovering how childhood serves as the training ground for building "choice muscles" in young people while helping adults develop trust in children's capabilities.

What School Leaders Need to Know About Attention, Learning, and Student Well-Being   Screen use is now part of classrooms, but not all screen use supports learning in the most productive way. In this science-based session, educators will explore the difference between entertainment and educational screen time and how screen overuse impacts attention, motivation, social connection, and learning. Drawing on neuroscience, developmental psychology, and the science of learning, Melanie Hempe, RN and founder of ScreenStrong, explains why children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to dopamine-driven digital platforms. Participants will learn the warning signs of screen overuse and how this vulnerability often appears in schools through distraction, impulsivity, anxiety, reduced motivation, and weakened peer relationships Participants will also learn practical strategies for creating low-tech learning environments that support stronger attention, deeper learning, healthier classroom culture, and improved student engagement. The session concludes with an audience Q&A featuring Evan Hempe, who offers a unique firsthand perspective on the benefits of navigating high school without a smartphone or social media.